Escapism
The Nam Song river near Vang Vieng in Laos has become infamous for wild, floating backpackers' parties, which have sadly resulted in accidents and deaths. But the area is cleaning up its act; bars have been closed, drug-fuelled parties stopped and now it is trying to attract back families. Family holiday specialist Stubborn Mule Travel (stubbornmuletravel.com) has 12-day trips for £1,195 per adult and from £795 per child, depending on age (excluding flights).
Snow watch
It hardly seems worth going to the Alps when there's been so much snow in the UK, but there are great conditions in Europe too. Austria is amazing, with 289cm at Pitztal, 180cm in St Anton. In France Tignes has 285cm, La Plagne 210cm. Switzerland has been sunny but snow is holding well, with 190cm in Zermatt. US resorts have been sunny but there's snow due this week.
• See skiclub.co.uk for details
Valentine's escapes
• Hideaways (01747 828170, hideaways.co.uk) has country cottages including the amazing, recently restored Shooting Folly, on the Shropshire/ Staffordshire border, surrounded by fields, with a crenelated mock church tower and a wood-burning stove, for £271 for three nights.
• I-escape has lots of UK properties with availability for the weekends before and after V-day (8-10 and 15-15 Feb), such as the Rectory in Wiltshire (i-escape.com/the-rectory) where two nights either weekend costs £115pp B&B. It has 12 rooms, antiques, wellies by the door for rambling and a fire for drinking champers beside.
• Or try Holiday Lettings (holidaylettings.co.uk) for self-catered properties sleeping two. Curl up in front of the log fire in the Cottage, Cornhill on Tweed, in Northumberland, for £114 a night; or toast your love in a luxury suite in a former Parisian boulangerie, from £100 a night.
• Anyone wanting to propose in a special place can hire the Minstrels' Gallery of Edinburgh Castle (edinburghcastle.gov.uk/hire/weddings) for 30 minutes, including a chilled bottle of champagne, for £120 – call 0131-226 9404 to book.
• Directline City Breaks (0800 408 5620, directline-citybreaks.co.uk) has some budget escapes for Valentine's, including two nights in Budapest from £106pp, including flights from Stansted.
• Zip off for a ski week in St Anton, one of Austria's best resorts, departing 9 February from Gatwick, to stay at the Chalet Hotel St Christoph, which has a pool and a bar, discounted to £671pp half-board plus afternoon tea, through Inghams (01483 791111, inghams.co.uk).
What's new?
Music festival
Those who had to do all their festival planning in a last-minute panic last year might want to get ahead this time and book one of the best bargain events of the summer, the Heineken Open'er festival in Gdynia, Poland, from 3-6 July. The lineup is to include Tame Impala, Animal Collective, Disclosure, Blur, Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys and Queens of the Stone Age. Tickets for all four days are available now for £95, or £112 with six days' camping.
• Information and ticket details: opener.pl/en
Day out
The weirdest new activity of 2013 so far has to be "parahawking" – paragliding meets falconry. While you paraglide, you wear a leather glove with food on it to tempt a falcon or kite to fly beside you and land on your arm.
• Available at Axis in Abergavenny, from £300, paraglide.co.uk.htm
Food tour
Thomasina Miers, founder of the UK's Wahaca Mexican restaurant chain, has helped to design the itinerary for the Mexican holiday in Intrepid's new range of "Real Food Adventures". These are 8-14 day tours of various countries that take in several foodie regions, from £820pp excluding flights. The Mexican trip includes a late-night taco crawl in Mexico City, a class on cooking mole in Puebla and a visit to the Asbastos market in Oaxaca.
• intrepidtravel.com/food
Cheap date
This February half-term, families can book a package to The Making of Harry Potter Tour near London on 16 February, which includes tickets plus a night's B&B in a family room at Jury's Inn Watford the night before, for £182 for two adults and two kids.
• Ring Travel Counsellors to book, 0800 195 8852, travelcounsellors.co.uk. Other dates available.
Tweet ur trip: The weirdest thing used as a sledge
• Baby changing mat! @rickhumphries
• I got passed by a young man on an inflatable armchair in Norfolk. Fast and comfortable, ultimate sledge @jimrobinson5150
• An airbed down Westbury White Horse. Didn't survive enthusiastic forward leap @RobbieMcHugh
• When my cousin was a kid he just used to put a crash helmet on and throw himself down the hill! @EarthandNature
• A Sky dish! @Indiechops
• I saw a family at Box Hill who'd tied a sledge 2 their dog. It definitely wasn't a husky! @GemmaTravel
• We have just been sledging in a rubber dingy (4 at a time). Lasted a couple of hrs until it hit a molehill … @Wild_Meadow
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